Fallen Angel
by xX The Fallen Interlude Xx
Summary: Chapter 1: As the battle between Ulquiorra and Ichigo rages on, Orihime must decide where her loyalites lie; with the man she once loved or with the man who has captured her heart. The fate of her future lies in the outcome of the battle.


**Hello and welcome to my first multi-chaptered fic! ^_^ So due to the recent manga chapters, I have been inspired. I **

**must say that I am very unhappy with the outcome of the manga so far but I guess I did see **

**it coming. = ( **

**Spoiler!! : ****So this fic follows the recent chapters but it will end differently, I guess that's good right?? So now on with the fic!**

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**Fallen Angel**

**Chapter 1: Monster**

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Orihime stood looking out into the ebony blanket that covered the sky. The forever crescent moon sparkled brightly against the darkness of night. Its light caused shadows to spring up and stretch out across the seemingly endless desert. Orihime watched impatiently as the battle against Ichigo and Ulquiorra escalated. She saw the stoic espada unsheath his zanpakuto.

"Bind! Murushierago!" he yelled. The sheer power of the release was suffocating, his power overwhelming. She looked into his vibrant eyes. Even though he had changed quite a bit; his broken helmet becoming a complete one, rested on his head and his tear marks had become thicker, more war like; she still saw the same person that was her captor. He was still the quiet, solemn, emotionless man she knew.

Since her time being held against her will in Hueco Mundo, she had grown closer to him. She had learned that he was gentler, kinder, and more human than what he would lead one to believe. He was not one to rush into a fight either; instead he would analyze the situation and learn the opponents fighting style. He had fought Ichigo once before, so he knew how Ichigo fought, yet it surprised her that Ulquiorra had released his zanpakuto. The fight then took another deadly turn. Ulquiorra released into a second form. Ichigo and Orihime froze in shock. Neither had heard of an espada releasing twice. The power that reverberated from him was stifling, unimaginable. His new form was more deadly than the one before, more violent, more beastly. When she looked into his dark eyes, she no longer saw Ulquiorra. All she saw was a blood thirsty monster; a monster that truly knew no other feelings other than blood lust and hatred. She watched them fight through tear filled eyes. She wished that they wouldn't fight, that this war would end. The smell of blood hung in the air, bombarding the senses to the point where it was nearly unbearable. Ulquiorra had Ichigo in his grasp. Orihime pleaded with him to stop, to let him go, to stop this foolish fight. Ulquiorra simply stared at her through uncaring eyes and fired a cero through Ichigo's chest. Blood fell from the sky as if it were raining scarlet rain. Ulquiorra released the bloody, motionless Ichigo and watched him fall to the ground. Orihime let out a blood curdling shriek as she ran to her fallen friend. Her friend, the man she once loved, now lay motionless in front of her. She waited and watched to see if she could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, indicating that he was alive. She wanted and prayed for any sign of life even though she knew all too well that there was no way that anyone could have survived a cero through their chest. Tears streamed down her rosy cheeks as she tried to remain calm. She suddenly heard another cero blast from behind her. Her eyes went wide in terror.

'Oh no! Ishida!' she thought. She looked around in a frenzied panic hoping that he wasn't attacked too, but her hopes were crushed when she saw the bloodied body of her friend behind her. She had lost two of her closest friends in just a matter of minutes and both of them died by the hand of the one she had grown to love. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what to next; run, fight back, or let him kill her too.

Thunder suddenly boomed in the distance. The magnificent roar of thunder broke the silence of the battlefield. Orihime let out a spine tingling scream. She didn't know what to do; all she could do at the moment was scream. Lightning flashed in the darkened, cloudy sky followed closely by another roar of thunder. Then the rain came, washing away the blood of the battle. She watched as the rain carried the blood away, the scarlet liquid swirling in the rain water. Ulquiorra watched her from a distance, his tail swaying back and forth in slight frustration. A part of him wanted to tear her apart limb from limb then step back and admire his handy work, but another part of him genuinely felt sorry for what he had done. He was truly disgusted with himself, to think that he had stooped down this low. This was why he didn't like releasing his second form. He didn't feel normal, he felt more animal than he would like. He looked down at his taloned hand. In this form he was a ferocious, blood thirsty beast that lusted for carnage and despair. He closed his eyes to try and regain control of racing mind, but was unable to because of her mournful cries and screams. Even in this form, even though he thirsted for bloodshed and anguish, his heart broke in two.

He stretched his wings, rain rolling off the smooth membrane. If he didn't feel so bad, he would've enjoyed this scene; the rain added a nice touch to the already depressing atmosphere. He had waited long enough; he had to get her back in her room before she got sick. He glided down from the broken pillar from which he was perched upon. He walked the rest of the way towards her. She didn't even flinch when his talons would scrape across the wet pavement. He stretched out his arm and placed a taloned hand on her shoulder. She immediately spun around and screamed. She tried her hardest to get away from him. She didn't want to be anywhere near him, but he held her tight in his grip. He paced a hand over her mouth to quiet her screaming so that he could actually talk to her.

"Woman, you must stop this foolish screaming of yours. I need you to calm down enough so that I can return you to your room," he stated. She desperately clawed at his hands hoping to get him to let go of her, but she only succeeded in hurting her hands. Blood seeped from her new wounds. He quickly changed back to his normal self; he hoped that this would help calm her. He released her from his tight grip. Realization finally came to her. He was the one who killed him, he, who she had grown close to. Her sparkling grey eyes widened in fear.

'He killed them…'she franticly thought, 'I have to get away from him.' She quickly stood up and ran away from him, hoping that he wouldn't follow. She was wrong. He sonidoed past her and stepped in front of her. She ran right into him. He wrapped his strong arms around her. She struggled to get away, pounding on his chest.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she yelled. "I hate you!" Ulquiorra just stood there, arms wrapped around her as the rain continued to fall. He waited until he was sure that she had gotten all of the anger that she had inside her out. He carefully picked her up. An exhausted Orihime didn't put up a fight as he got ready to take her to her room.

"Hang on Woman," he warned her before he took off. She wrapped her shaking arms around his neck and leaned her head against his chest; he then sonidoed back to Las Nochas. When he reached her room he set her down in a nearby chair and went to her closet and passed her dry clothes.

"Here, change into these." She just stared at the wall in front of her, she did not reply to his order.

"Woman-"

"My name is Orihime!" she interrupted. "My name is Orihime," she repeated as she stared back at the wall. He stared at her, his eyes slightly wide. Her sudden burst of energy had taken him by surprise, but no sooner than the outburst, she was quiet again, emotionless, no doubt trying to piece together her broken reality.

"Very well, Orihime," he said as he walked towards the door, "I'll be back in a few minutes, be changed by then." He closed the door behind him.

As soon as she was sure that he was gone, she undressed, dried herself, and changed into her dry clothes. She felt a sharp pain as her fingers rubbed against the fabric. She looked down at her now bloody fingers. She cursed herself for struggling like that; she knew that no matter what she did, she could not harm him with her bare hands. She had known ever since she was brave enough to slap him across his face, her hand was sore for days. She refused to heal her wounds, the pain the she felt was the only thing that told her that she was alive even though she felt dead inside. She heard a quiet knock at the door.

"I'm coming in," Ulquiorra stated. The door opened and Ulquiorra walked in, first aid kit in hand. He figured that she wouldn't heal her wounded hands. He quietly shut the door behind him.

"Sit please," he ordered pointing to her bed. She did as she was told. Ulquiorra brought over a chair and sat in front of her. He opened up the first aid kit and pulled out several supplies. He held out his hand.

"Your hand please," Orihime placed a hand in his. He inspected her wounds. He checked to see if she had any broken bones. His touch was extremely gentle and comforting, he was careful not to put her in any discomfort. He then began to clean her wounds. Ulquiorra watched her carefully, if she winced, he would stop for a while and wait for the pain to dull again. As soon as her wounds were clean he bandaged each finger, he did the same to the other hand.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked. She hesitantly took one of his hands and placed it on her heart.

"My heart aches." she paused "Why…why did you kill them, why?" She searched his eyes for the answer she craved so much. Ulquiorra closed his eyes and tried to feel her faint heart beat. He leaned in closer and placed his ear on her heart. He closed his eyes and listened to the steady beat, wondering what she meant by heartache. To him, it did not sound like her heart ached at all. The way humans went on and on about their hearts disgusted him. Orihime froze, she never expected him to do something like this.

"Your heart is beating faster." he observed. "Why is that?" A blush made its way across her face. He lifted his head away from her. She searched her now cloudy mind for an answer, but Ulquiorra grew impatient and decided to take a guess.

"Is it that you are afraid of me? Do I frighten you? Did you forget that I am not a human like you?" he questioned. "I may be more human than the other espada, but that does not mean that I am not one of them." He paused and watched her. She trembled, eyes wide, she didn't dare look at him.

"I acted on my instincts. I am a being that was made to kill, made to make others suffer," Ulquiorra stood up and put the chair back. He made his way back over to Orihime. He took a porcelain hand out of his pocket and placed it under her chin, forcing her to look at him. Her eyes overflowed with new tears. He saw fear in her eyes, sadness, and, what surprised him the most was that he saw determination.

"Time heals all wounds." he quietly told her. Kindness and sincerity radiated from the words that he now spoke. He then quietly left the room, leaving her alone to gather her thoughts.

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**Author's note: Well, There you go. Chapter one of "Fallen Angel" I hope that you all enjoyed it =) I just love Ulquiorra *Squee!!* I hope that Ulquiorra was in character… Now if you could please take some time and write a review, give me your thoughts. Reviews will be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon.**


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